You can spread out the pressure to a much greater degree with a hover device.
A helicopter still has to exert enough force to lift say 900kg of mass. But, the surface area covered by a helicopter’s rotors is pretty huge compared to the contact patch of even a big, soft tire. OTOH, there’s going to be a lot of turbulence in the air pushed down by a rotor / hover device, which might damage some plants more than simply being squashed by a soft tire.
You can spread out the pressure to a much greater degree with a hover device.
A helicopter still has to exert enough force to lift say 900kg of mass. But, the surface area covered by a helicopter’s rotors is pretty huge compared to the contact patch of even a big, soft tire. OTOH, there’s going to be a lot of turbulence in the air pushed down by a rotor / hover device, which might damage some plants more than simply being squashed by a soft tire.